Taking parks to the fifth level

Brisbane will soon lay claim to a public park in the sky, joining the likes of New York and Osaka, after the approval of a new 36-storey office tower on Queen Street.

Construction on Grocon's six-star green rated and five-star NABERS-rated building at 480 Queen Street is due to begin in 2013, with completion in 2016 to reveal a 12-storey "living green wall" and an elevated, fifth level park.

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New office tower for CBD

A video flyover shows the location and layout of a 37 storey CBD commercial tower which has been approved by Brisbane City Council.

The lofty green space is designed to similar principles behind Manhattan's High Line Park, which transformed a section disused railway into an urban park which snakes through the Big Apple.

The Grocon tower, at the site of the failed Trilogy Tower development, also reflects a global trend towards sustainable design and "living" buildings, such as the Historial de la Vendée in Les-Lucs-sur-Boulogne, France, the California Academy of Sciences and Osaka's Namba Parks green transit-oriented development.